Employees at businesses in a 212 Main St. building were sent outside Tuesday afternoon after the Department of Economic Development offices upstairs received an envelope containing an unknown powder.

Whitehorse RCMP are now calling the situation a hoax.

Police arrived at the building, which also houses Scotiabank and the Main Design hair salon and other businenesses, at about 2 p.m.

After they shut down the ventilation system and evacuated the building, officers guarded entryways to make sure no one entered the building.

The letter was quarantined in the Economic Development offices until a special RCMP contamination unit arrived from Vancouver on a chartered jet at midnight last night.

Wearing special protective suits and using a spectrometer to test for radiation, the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) RCMP contamination unit determined the substance was not a threat in as few as 30 minutes, Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward told a news conference this morning.

There were three employees in the Economic Development offices at the time the substance was discovered. The employees were placed in quarantine until health officers examined them.

'The safety of local residents is our priority,' said Milward.

The letter was sent to the Economic Development offices and postmarked regular mail from St. Louis, Missouri.

No return address was provided on the envelope, and police are continuing to investigate who sent it.

Because the substance was not toxic, the investigation will be limited, said Milward.

Investigators will likely contact Canada Post and Customs but U.S. authorities may not be contacted.

'We're going to try and track down exactly where this came from .We'll see where this investigation leads us.

'It appears to be a hoax,' he added.

The letter and its contents have been sent to Vancouver for further analysis.

Employees did the right thing, said Doug Caldwell, a spokesman with the Department of Community Services.

Caldwell said mail scares following 9/11 had already led to training for government employees dealing with strange mail. No procedural changes will be made in relation to Tuesday's scare.

Initially, many Scotiabank employees who were suddenly rushed from the building said they had no idea what was going on. Employees from the various businesses in the building were directed toward the parking lot behind the building, and were reluctant to talk with media.

Rudy Muehldorfer, owner of Panda's restaurant at 210 Main St., was also moved from the building but was not too concerned about the package.

'Personally, I think it's a prank or a joke,' he said, pointing out that the date was 06/06/06.

'It's better (to be) safe than sorry though these days, you never know.'

All businesses in the building returned to normal operations this morning.